Army chief's last-ditch attempt on age row

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In a last-ditch attempt, General V.K. Singh has filed a statutory complaint with the Defence Minister seeking re-examination of its decision to reject his claim on the date of birth.

In a first for any Army chief, he filed the complaint with Defence Minister A.K. Antony under the Army Act on Friday asking him to take a decision on his date of birth purely on basis of merit and available evidence.

Gen. Singh has been seeking change of date of birth in the Army records from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951 that will give an additional 10 months in office.

However, the Defence Ministry has decided to stick to May 10, 1950 as given by him in his declaration in UPSC records, which also reflects in the Military Secretary branch records.

The complaint filed by Gen. Singh is being examined by the Ministry, Defence Ministry sources said.

Army sources said that a Statutory Complaint under the Army Act is the last in-house official remedy available to a serving officer. If he is not satisfied with the decision on his complaint, the next option for him can be approaching the Tribunal.
Reacting to the reports that Gen. Singh has filed a Statutory Complaint, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said, "Where is the controversy? The Ministry has looked into the issue and has given an opinion".

"I think the view taken by the Ministry is known. You already know the view the Minister has taken," Raju told reporters outside Parliament House.

When asked whether the Chief of Army Staff is upset over Ministry's decision to fix his year of birth as 1950, Raju said: "I cannot comment on that, but with whatever information Ministry has taken a view. Why are you making it into a controversy?"
Meanwhile, Defence Minister A.K. Antony refused to comment on the issue. The Army Act provides scope for an officer wronged by his commanding officer or any superior officer may complaint to the Central government if he has not got proper redress from his superiors.

However, it is not clear under which rule the Army Chief has filed his Statutory Complaint to the Minister because he is the top-most official in the Army.